On Sunday 10th March 5 colleagues from homeless health charity Groundswell (Becky, John, Martin, Mat & Sharon), trustee Laura and our good friends Sian and Tamara will be putting on their trainers to run the 13.1miles of the ‘Big Half’.
Pictured (above):
Back: Martin Burrows (Director of Research & Campaigns), Mat Amp (Research Project Worker)
Front: John Gibbons (Hep C Caseworker), Sharon Clint (HHPA Project Manager), Laura Austin Croft (Trustee), Becky Evans (Development Manager).
Groundswell’s vision is of an equal and inclusive society, where the solutions to homelessness come from the experiences of people who are homeless. We believe that lived experience of homelessness and using services brings unique insight that creates change. Everyone on our volunteer team has been homeless, over half our staff too – including some of our runners.
Homeless people’s health is extremely poor compared to the general population. Life expectancy can be 30 years less than the average. Simple things like registering with a GP can seem impossible when you have no address. Our Homeless Health Peer Advocacy service (HHPA) aims to address health inequalities. We train people who have experienced homelessness to become peer advocates, they volunteer their time to help currently homeless people navigate our complex health system.
We’re a small charity with a big voice – the voices of those who have experienced homelessness to create practical solutions and change to the barriers people face in accessing healthcare. This is a huge challenge for our team, something we’re all prepared to train hard for to raise all we can to help more homeless people across the country access the healthcare they need to move out of homelessness. Please donate anything you can via our online fundraising page and share with your friends, family and networks.